Finally, A German Economist Who's Getting History Right

The overwhelming German view of economics basically goes like
this: The primary evil in the world is inflation, and the central
bank must do everything to right it.

We've never heard of a German economist at the Bundesbank or the
ECB say otherwise.

That popular fear of inflation is frequently ascribed to the
German experience with Weimar hyperinflation, which in popular
mythology lead to the rise of the Nazis, and the darkest spot in
German history.

But of course this isn't the real story of the economics that
lead to the Nazis, and it seems that not every German economist
remembers things this way.

There's A German economist who remembers that the pre-war
economic crisis that bought the Nazis to rise was not the
hyperinflation of Weimar Germany, but rather the austerity
pursued by Chancellor Brüning.

The economist Peter Bofinger has compared the current austerity
policies of the euro countries with the devastating crisis policy
of the Weimar Republic.

"The policy, which is currently operating in Spain, Portugal and
Greece, is the policy of the Chancellor Brüning," Bofinger said
the "Weser-Kurier". Whose Cabinet had intensified in 1931 and
1932 with massive cuts in social spending, unemployment and
hyperinflation enormous.

Such savings makes no sense for countries that were in a
recession, said Bofinger. "The situation in Greece is partly due
to the economic shock therapy."

It's hard not to sympathize with this argument, in light of the
literal rise of Neo-Nazis in Greece, which has been crushed the
hardest by austerity.